[Dixielandjazz] More on "Last Dollar" & Red Nichols

[Anton Crouch]

Hello all

Nothing is ever settled; nothing is certain. There is only probability.

After that little homily, back to jazz   :-)

Audrey Van Dyke's finding of the sheet music of "Last Dollar" (with Red
Nichols' name as the composer) settles the matter of who is credited with
the composition, but there is still a small, nagging doubt as who actually
wrote the piece.

The composition is not listed in Philip Evan's 1997 book 'The Red Nichols
Story: After Intermission, 1942-1965' . Even though the book only covers
the period 1942 to 1965, the listing of the compositions is intended to be
complete. The book also mentions the Red Nichols Collection at the
University of Oregon and I emailed the Special Collections Librarian there.

I got the following speedy and authoritative reply from Bruce Tabb, the
Special Collections Librarian.

"The inventory to the Red Nichols Collections does not list "Last
Dollar" under either manuscripts or under published scores."

What's the probability of there being more than one "Red Nichols"?; did
Nichols claim the piece in 1930 and then either abandon it or forget about
it, later?

All the best
Anton